


We Are Family

by ivypho



Category: Bleach
Genre: F/F, F/M, Filler/Non-Canon Character(s), Future Fic, Kid Fic, M/M, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Other, Post-Canon, Series Spoilers, Tags May Change, alternating pov
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-08-31 04:02:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8563093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivypho/pseuds/ivypho
Summary: Some time between the point of Aizen's defeat and his entrance into the war with the Quincy, Grimmjow mated with an Arrancar by the name of Valerie Perez. After he was rescued from Askin's Gift Ball Deluxe by Nelliel and safely returned to Las Noches, the mated pair settle into a peaceful life together. Some years later, the two are proud parents and Hueco Mundo is now far too small for five teenage Arrancar. Much to Grimmjow's dismay and against his wishes, Valerie moves them to the World of the Living where they receive special gigais and find shelter via Urahara Kisuke in the small but all-too familiar town of Karakura.This is just basically an idea that my ex-girlfriend and I had together that got a hold of crack and who knows what else. I don't even know, but I love it and I'm going to do it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Be warned that there will be some OOC behavior from a few of the canon characters, Grimmjow being the most obvious example due to his status as a father. Also, because they are not technically canon and therefore don't exist in the timeline of the manga's universe, I will be using filler arc and movie characters that I personally liked. So, expect to see some of those characters.
> 
> That being said, I do not own Bleach, the characters (canon/filler/movie), or any of the other media mentioned. Many of the original characters had details from existing images from different sources seeped into their designs, so I take no ownership of their appearances. However, I reserve the right to complain if I see others using the OCs without my permission, as I worked hard on their individual natures. If you want to use them, that's fine, but at least let me know first. Deal?

Lark wasn’t sure how her first day of school should have gone, but she was positive it shouldn’t have gone like that. She’d done great in class, paying attention and even managing to have the courage to answer when the teacher called on her. She had been so excited to tell her parents how her day was going, but that pride and courage dwindled instantly when lunchtime came around. She was approached by a couple of girls and they’d asked if she wanted to sit with them at lunch. Lark had always been able to correctly deduce a person’s intentions, so she knew they were being friendly and wanted to help her make a couple of friends, but that hadn’t helped at all. Instead of accepting their offer like she wanted to, Lark ended up panicking and bolting from the room like they’d just threatened to kill her. She felt horrible for it. There was no way Lark was ever going to be able to look at any of her classmates again.

Her phone suddenly rang, playing _Break the Rules_ very loudly, and Lark let out a startled shout. A few people looked at her and she turned red as she dug around in her bag to grab her phone. She didn’t even have to check to see who was calling because all her contacts, as few as they were, had special ringtones assigned to them. _Break the Rules_ was her sister’s.

“Hey, Kai. What—”

_“Are ya freakin’ stupid or somethin’!? Do ya know how worried we are about ya!?”_

“Huh…?”

 _“We’re s’posed to walk home together, ya dumbass! We’ve been lookin’ all over campus for ya!”_ Lark paled. She’d been so busy feeling awful for the incident with the girls that she completely forgot that she and her siblings had to walk home together. _“Where the hell are ya!?”_

“I’m, uh.” Lark looked around. Now that she thought about it, she didn’t have any idea where she was. It definitely wasn’t any of the routes that connected the school to Mister Urahara’s store. “Oops….”

_“Oops? Did ya just say oops!? Ya really are stupid! Stay right where ya are! I’m calling Kisuke and tellin' him to track yer gigai! I should beat the crap out of ya for being so fuckin’—”_

The call ended as Kai started on her rant and the frailer sister slumped. As if things weren’t bad enough. Now Kai was going to beat her up again. Or, at the very least, she was angry enough to want to do it. If their dad hadn’t gotten rid of that behavior, she probably would. Slumping forward with her eyes closed until her head rested against a window, Lark was forced to open them when she heard something scratching at the glass.

Puppies. There were puppies on display in the window, all of them looking ready to be adopted. She smiled a bit and tapped the glass softly to say hi to the tiny creature. Would her parents let them get a dog when they had their own house? Lark knew they wouldn’t dare ask Mister Urahara if they could bring a dog into his place since he was already housing seven Arrancar out of sheer generosity. Well, and the fact that he and her dad had apparently almost died together in a war, which supposedly did something to bond two people together despite being on opposite sides.

“I wouldn’t mind a dog. They’re supposed to be really good friends, right?” Lark laughed a little when the puppy barked and then seemed to try doing a trick to impress her, but it only ended up tumbling onto its back. “Aw. You’re so cute.”

Getting an idea, Lark pulled up the camera on her phone and snapped a picture of the puppies before sending it to her dad. Holding her phone to wait for his reply, she jumped a bit when he called and his ringtone, _SIX Feeling_ , started to play. She hadn’t expected him to call. He usually just texted her when she sent one to him. Maybe he was just relieved to hear from her.

“Hi, Daddy. I’m sorry for leaving without Kai and them.”

_“As long as you’re safe, it doesn’t matter. Just stay put so Hat and Clogs can track your gigai and we can find you. Anyway, why are you sending me pictures of puppies?”_

“I was hoping we could get one when we get a house of our own. Can we?” There was silence on the other end of the phone and Lark gave a sly little smile even though he couldn’t see it. “Please, Daddy? I really want a puppy....”

Her dad groaned and she knew she’d broken through his reluctance. He was always very soft on her and it was so easy for her to get him crack. Was that manipulative?

_“Alright, fine. We can get a dog when we have a place of our own. But, I swear, if you start to neglect it, I’m getting rid of it.”_

“I’ll take really good care of it!”

_“You’d better because I’m not taking care of a mutt.”_

“I promise! Thank you, Daddy!”

Lark hung up after listening to his annoyed grumbling and smiled. So, they were getting a dog. That was great! Maybe having a dog would help her develop more confidence. She couldn’t wait to get one. What would she call it? Her dad talked about an Espada named Coyote that he seemed to have some form of respect for. Maybe she’d name it Coyote or Starrk if it was male.

“Not used to seeing your people around here.” Lark tensed and turned a bit when she was addressed. “You’re from Gakuenchou, aren’t you? I can tell. That’s a Karakura High uniform you have on.”

“You’re kind of far from your side of town, girlie.”

“I….I just got lost. I’m new to town and…really bad with directions, so….”

“Lost? That’s not good. There are a lot of weirdos out here, you know. You really shouldn’t be walking around alone.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about her, Daisuke. Freaks tend to be nice to their own kind.”

Lark looked up at the taller of the two boys, frowning a bit. What did that mean? She wasn’t a freak. So her hair was a really pale blue that looked white in natural light. Lark actually loved her hair. And, so did her dad, who enjoyed brushing it for her. He always told her how pretty and soft it was. Looking away from the two boys, Lark gripped her bag tightly before moving passed them. She just wanted to get away from them before they insulted her even more.

“Hey!” Lark gasped painfully when she was shoved into an alley, falling to the cement and scraping the outside of her left thigh on the ground when she landed. “Stupid bitch. It’s rude to walk away from someone when they’re talking to you. Don’t they teach you anything at that self-entitled school of yours?”

Lark looked up at the two boys. She heard that Karakura High did tend to attract the wealthier students, but they didn’t seem like spoiled brats to the Arrancar; especially the two girls that talked to her at lunch. They seemed really nice. Lark’s eyes widened when Daisuke, as his friend called him, pulled out a pair of scissors and he looked at her almost gleefully. Thankfully, he didn’t get a chance to take even a single step towards her before his friend was grabbed from behind, his arm pulled behind his back and twisted upward to the point where he looked pained.

“Ow! What the hell, lady!? Let go of me!”

“I didn’t know students from Yumisawa were so brutish. You find a lost girl and instead of lending a hand, you assault her. If any school is guilty of neglecting basic social skills, it isn’t Karakura High.” Lark had to look away from the guy that stood in the entrance of the alley. It was way too bright to see anything anyway. “I suggest if you don’t want your friend to go home with dislocated shoulders, you get out of here. My friend here can be cruel to bullies that prey on young women.”

“Damn….Let’s get out of here, Hideki.”

The boy’s captor let go of Hideki and the two boys ran off, the injured one cradling his arm a bit. Once they were gone, the woman looked back at Lark and approached her. She stopped when Lark let out a whimper and she gave a sympathetic coo.

“It’s alright. I’m not going to hurt you. Are you okay, sweetie?”

“Y….Yes, I’m…okay.” Lark jumped a bit when she held out her hand, but she took it anyway and got to her feet with her help. “…Thank you for helping me.”

“You’re welcome! We couldn’t just stand by and let those boys hurt a pretty girl like you. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Now that they were closer, Lark could see them more clearly. The woman was very beautiful. She had short strawberry-blonde hair that didn’t even reach her shoulders and curled inward toward her chin, the left side hanging in her face to partially obscure one of her pale blue eyes. Under the right side of her lips was a beauty mark, which seemed to somehow make her lips look even fuller than they were and caused her pale skin to somehow glow. What was even more impressive about her was her figure. Being a fifteen year old girl, Lark really couldn’t help but notice and be a bit jealous of the woman’s curvaceous figure; especially her breasts, which were large and almost looked unnatural against her otherwise slim body. As if Lark wasn’t already self-conscious. Now she had the image of a real model burned into her memory.

The boy that had shown up with the woman was somehow even more beautiful than she was, and just looking at him made her blush. He was short, about four inches taller than Lark was, and his hair was a stunning pristine white that kind of spiked over to the left side with the bangs hanging over the left side of his face to curtain his left eye. She took notice of his eyes, which were turquoise in color, and how they complimented his skin, which was only a shade darker than his friend’s. He looked completely normal except for his height and hair, but he was somehow stunning to Lark.

“You’re bleeding.” Lark blinked when he spoke and looked down at her leg. “It must have happened when you were pushed. Are you able to walk?”

“Yes, I’m fine. It doesn’t even really hurt that much….I’ve been hurt a lot more than this, so this is nothing.”

“That’s not exactly comforting, you know. Now I don’t want to let you out of my sight.” The woman smiled at Lark when she looked up at her. “I have to say. You’re just as tiny and cute as my friend here, you know that? I’m Matsumoto Rangiku and it’s great to meet you.”

“I’m…Lark Jaeger. It’s really nice to meet you to.” Lark looked at her friend, not knowing what to say. “You…go to Karakura High….That’s our uniform.”

“Yes. I am Hitsugaya Tōshirō from class one-A. Anyway, we should get that scrape cleaned and covered before it gets infected. Rangiku and I don’t live far from here. I’d be willing to let you come over so we can help you out.”

“I….I’d appreciate that. Thank you again.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah....I know this isn't the best read ever, but I realized I probably shouldn't have started off with Lark because that made it really difficult for me to progress things even though the first chapters are really just here to kind of introduce Grimmjow's children rather than focusing on plot. I've also been very bitter because I discovered I lost the first fan fiction I ever made because I'm apparently crap at using flash drives and it was a really awesome one that I really liked and planned on posting when I finished either We Are Family or Student Contractors.
> 
> BUT, YEAH! THAT'S BEEN MY LIFE! I hope you enjoy Kaida's chapter, but it's crap, so I don't blame you if you don't. I'm not too happy with it either.

“Dammit, Lark. What part of stay put did ya not understand?”

“Maybe she was abducted.” Kaida stiffened and glared daggers at Satoru, her brother tensing and rubbing his neck nervously before he pointed at the pet store. “I’ll go in and see if anyone saw which way she went.”

“Yea, ya do that.”

Kaida watched Satoru walk into pet store before she started to walk down the street. Satoru’s little speculation wasn’t even funny. She knew he wasn’t joking and that it was a very valid assumption, but neither of them wanted to tell their old man that his little princess went missing. They were already faced with the threat of having him go ape shit on them for not keeping a better eye on her; Kaida really wasn’t willing to find out what he’d do to them if she was kidnapped.

“Crap.” Kaida took out her phone when it vibrated and groaned at the ID on the screen. Her dad had the best – worst? – timing ever. “…Hey, ya old coot. What’s up?”

_“Did you find her?”_

“Uh….Yea, we found her. She’s lookin’ at puppies with Toru right now.”

 _“Let me talk to her.”_ Kaida tensed and was quiet for a bit too long because she heard an angry hiss from her dad. _“You’re the group alpha, Kaida. It’s your responsibility to make sure they’re all safe and watch them.”_

“We’ll find her, Dad. Ya don’t have to worry. She couldn’t have gotten too far.”

 _“I’m leaving now. If I find her before you do, you’ll be a heap of bloody mesh when I’m done with you. Maybe that’ll knock some sense of responsibility into you.”_ Kaida quietly groaned, slumping in an exaggerated way. _“You’d best get looking, because I’m leaving my gigai behind.”_

Kaida didn’t get a chance to say anything before he hung up and she frowned irritably. That wasn’t even fair. He would be using Sonido. Well, at least he wouldn’t be able to use Pesquisa to find her. Thanks to the gigais Kisuke made for them, their spirit energy was completely hidden. That did give her a bit of an advantage.

“Where are ya?” Dialing her sister’s number, she waited for Lark to answer. When it continued to ring, an angry rumble formed in her throat. “Ya stupid little avian bitch! Answer when yer alpha calls!”

“Kai!”

“Whaddya want, Toru?”

“The lady that owns the store said she was being bullied by some boys from Yumisawa High, but she doesn’t know which way they went.”

“And, the hag didn’t help her!? Fuckin’ humans make me sick!”

“Hollows aren’t much better, you know.”

“Shut up, Toru. Let’s split up and look for Lark. Dad’s on his way to find her and we’re dead if he beats us to it.”

Satoru rolled his eyes at Kaida before walking off to search in his own direction. So, their old man only threatened Kaida; a little white lie wasn’t going to hurt anyone as long as it got the job done. Continuing down the street she was already walking when her brother caught up to her, Kaida did her best to sniff out her sister. Unfortunately, her sense of smell wasn’t the best; she did much better with her eyes than her nose. She wished Kisami was there so he could sniff her out since his sense of smell was astonishing. Of course, he also wasn’t limited by a gigai since he preferred not to wear it all that much unless he couldn’t find the weird energy-suppressing bracelet they all had.

Kaida came to a stop as she walked around the corner, halted by the sight of Lark walking down the street towards her. It was impossible to mistake her soft and doe-like lavender eyes, long blue-white hair, and pale complexion. No one else could possibly look like that. She was with a much endowed woman and a boy in their school uniform. The dragon tilted her head a bit as she recognized the white-haired and stuck up know-it-all from her class. She had found him incredibly annoying and she could swear she sensed something very off and dangerous about him.

That being said, what was the midget doing with her sister?

“Lark!” Kaida crossed her arms as her sister jumped, looking down submissively to avoid eye contact. “Yer in a lot of trouble. Do ya have any idea how worried sick we’ve been? C’mon. We’re goin’ home.”

“Coming….Um.”

Lark looked at the two she was with, looking like she was going to say something, but she chickened out and rushed over to Kaida. Turning without much thought, Kaida walked away with her sister. As they approached the pet store again, Kaida looked down and saw the definite blush on her sister’s face and smirked a bit.

“He was kinda cute, huh?” Her blush got redder and Kaida laughed. “I think ya have yer first crush, Lark!”

“I do not…! Rangiku and Tōshirō were just nice to me!”

Was that his name? Kaida honestly hadn’t cared enough to remember. And, what was the deal with that lady? It was kind of weird for an old hag to be hanging out with a high school student. Maybe it was his mother.

“You found her.” Kaida and Lark both jumped when their dad suddenly appeared behind them and spoke. “You’re lucky, Kaida. Lark, are you alright?”

“Course I found her. I told ya not to worry.”

“Yes, Daddy, I’m okay. It was just a scratch.” There was a heavy sigh from the old jaguar and Lark looked up at him with a smile. “I’m really okay. Promise.”

“Let’s just get home. Ya know Mom’s not gonna be happy if all of us start missin’ dinner.”

The first thing Kaida was going to do when they got back to Kisuke’s was get Lark to tell her what happened to her leg. If someone hurt her, they would be dead in the river by Wednesday.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went ahead and did a minor edit to the previous chapter to include Lark's overall appearance. But, for those you who don't want to go back to reread the chapter: Lark's hair is a very pale blue that looks white sometimes (I believe this was mentioned after she was called a freak, the poor girl) with wide soft lavender eyes and a pale complexion. That's really all there is right now because her Hollow features haven't been revealed yet.

Satoru sat at the sitting room table across from Lark, the two of them crowding the round wooden surface with their homework. Kisami sat up against the wall, which was somewhat visible through the golf ball-sized hole on his sternum. He fiddled with his suppression accessory lightly for a few moments before shifting to pull his inky black hair into a tie, mindful of the flame-covered hawk skull helmet that was his mask, and his dark violet eyes – one of which being decorated with three emerald “tear streaks” that ran down his cheek to his jaw – flicked to look over at the wall for a second or two before landing on Satoru. The younger of the two brothers gave a sigh before returning to his work. It was quiet in their room, but the room next to it was filled with furious shouts all of them were trying not to acknowledge. They all knew it was better to let the three alphas work things out on their own when they were so worked up.

“Who do you think Father is going to agree with?”

“It’s hard to say. Dad’s prone to be violent when someone hurts any of us, but he’s also trying to be extremely cautious to avoid gaining Soul Society’s attention.” Satoru thought before shrugging. “It’s fifty-fifty. Bet he’s going to side with Leon, though. Knock the punks around a bit to teach them a lesson, but avoid killing them.”

“I’m inclined to believe he’ll choose Kaida’s suggestion and we’ll be hearing of two missing high school students by the end of the week.” It was then Kisami turned his attention to Lark, who looked uncertain. “What would you like to be done with them, Lark? You were the one they assaulted; their punishment should be up to you.”

“I…just want it to be over with….I’m not even hurt that much. Do they have to fight?”

“You know how alphas are. It can’t be helped.”

Satoru couldn’t agree more with Kisami. It didn’t even matter what the problem was. When alphas had different opinions, they always fought to see who came out on top. The one that won the argument got to go through with their plan while the others just sat back and left it alone.

“So, Kaida mentioned something about you having a crush.” Satoru smiled at Lark’s face when it turned red. “What’re they like?”

“What? No! Of course not!”

“You don’t have to be embarrassed, Lark. I won’t tattle to anyone. You can tell me, can’t you?”

Lark gave Satoru a rather annoyed look and he frowned. He hadn’t meant to upset her. Satoru was only playing around. Lark stood and gathered up her homework before hurrying off to his room, the act earning a sigh from Kisami and a guilty frown from Satoru.

“Was that necessary, Satoru?”

“What? I was only teasing her. I didn’t think it’d get to her that much.”

“You know Lark is sensitive on these matters. You didn’t have to embarrass her.”

Satoru sighed. He hadn’t meant to upset her like that. But, he knew it was best to wait until Lark came back out on her own or leave it to their parents to calm her down. If there was one thing that scared all of them more than their dad’s full temper, it was Lark when she was angry. Betas were terrifying when they were angry. Even their dad didn’t go near something like that.

The two brothers looked up when their mother came in, her gigai just a beautiful as her true form. Like Kisami and Leon, her hair was black and was usually always worn in a high ponytail that kept it at waist-length, though it ran down passed her rear when it was down completely. Her fair complexion went well with her pale red eyes. His mother wasn’t really allowed to wear the kind of clothes she preferred, but she had managed to find a style she liked that consisted of clothes that were a couple sizes too small so they hugged her body perfectly. Most kids would be embarrassed to see their mother wearing something like that, but Satoru and his siblings were used to seeing _a lot_ of skin on her, so they weren’t fazed by it.

“Hey, Mom.”

“How was your first day of school, Toru? Did you make any friends?”

That was really the only reason Satoru wanted to move to the World of the Living. It was kind of lonely in Hueco Mundo when the only people you could hang out with were your siblings and parents. Not that he disliked hanging out with them, but more options would be great.

“Well, the girls seem to be really friendly with me.”

“It couldn’t be because you’re Father’s twin, could it?” Satoru laughed a bit. “I knew you would be the most popular.”

It was true. Satoru was an exact copy of their dad except for a few differences in their Hollow features and the old cat being a lot more built than Satoru was. He wasn’t the only copycat, though. Leon was, too, but he was cloned from their mother rather than their dad.

“There is this kid in my class that I talked to today. He’s kind of cool.” He wasn’t going to say much, though. Not before he tested the waters. “How long do you think they’ll be at it?”

“You know them. Once they’re all fighting against each other, it could be hours.” Until his mother had enough and stopped them. “Tell me about this boy, Toru. Should we expecting a dinner guest any time soon?”

“Reel it in, Mom. I barely even know the guy. Give me a couple weeks, yeah?”

“I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m just so excited for you and your sisters. It’ll be nice to see you with others your own age.”

Satoru smiled a bit, purring as his mother moved his hair from his face before she pulled him into a hug. Her excitement was understandable. They’d only ever been around other Arrancar, so none of them had any friends their age. Well, if being in a sort of pack counted as having friends. Nelliel was a friend, but Satoru figured the other remaining Arrancar really only stayed in Las Noches due to some kind of comfort effect.

“If only Leon and Kisami—”

Satoru and Kisami both jumped a bit when there was a sudden thud on the wall. Judging by how much the décor on the wall rattled, it was easy to tell it was his dad that caused it. The two teenagers sighed softly as their mother stood swiftly, having clearly decided it was time to put an end to the argument before they ended up destroying Kisuke’s house.

“I don’t know what Mother hopes to accomplish. We all know they won’t let this matter go until a course of action is decided.”

“We can’t let them damage Kisuke’s home. He’s letting us stay here, but he can kick us out at any moment. Let’s not provoke him.”

“I suppose that’s true.” Satoru watched as Kisami looked up at the clock before standing. “I’m going out.”

“Again? Where do you go?”

“You could always follow and find out if you’re so curious.”

“I’d rather not be skewered by your Zanpakutō. Just make sure you’re back by morning.”

“I always am.”

Kisami left the shop, leaving Satoru to do his homework alone. The younger omega was curious about his brother’s activities, but Kisami valued his privacy. The only one that could stalk him and not be reprimanded was their father; and, the man seemed content with letting Kisami do his own thing so long as he didn’t draw attention to them.


	4. Chapter 4

“I can’t believe you like this crap.”

“I actually have no preference for it whatsoever.”

“Then why did you insist I read it to you!?”

“Curiosity. I was merely experimenting to see if you would do so or not.”

“You jerk! I have to bleach my brain when I get home because of this, you know!”

“The idea of such a thing is physically impossible. You would need to remove a portion of your skull to do so and I am fairly certain scrubbing your brain with anything, bleach especially, is highly inadvisable. That is, of course, if you don’t die from having your skull cut open first.”

Kisami shivered a bit as the book flew through his head, landing on the grass in front of him with a soft thud. Normally he would be upset at such brutish treatment of a book, but he had no care for the one they’d been reading, so he didn’t react. The Arrancar grunted when Nozomi leaned her back against his roughly, her arms obviously crossed over her chest. It was quiet for a few minutes before his friend began to giggle softly, the noise bringing a slight smile to Kisami’s lips.

“You’re a real jerk, Kisami. I can’t believe you had me read that to you.”

“I did not expect it to be so horrible, but I suppose I should have taken your word for it.”

“Oh, you think? I wasn’t exaggerating when I said the Twilight Saga wasn’t worth the time. Everyone who knows what real literature is knows that.”

“What did you say it came from again? A dream?”

“That’s what they say. I don’t know if it’s true or not, though.”

The phoenix gave a laugh before he stood, Nozomi falling with a soft “oof” onto her back. After stretching and popping the stiff joints in his body, Kisami turned to Nozomi and watched as she sat up, picking grass out of her hair. She was great company; and, to Kisami, that was an accomplishment because he did not like humans. But, Nozomi wasn’t like the other humans. She was a lot like him and he felt a sort of kinship with her he didn’t feel with anyone else, including his own family. Of course, she was also a lovely person and he often found himself staring at her to appreciate her beauty. Deep green hair that ran to her chin, resting above a pair of violet eyes much like his own and a fairly pale complexion; she was stunning to him, but he just couldn’t explain why.

“You’re staring at me again.”

“Impossible. I do not stare.” That was a lie, and they both knew it, but Nozomi simply shrugged. She knew by now he never stared with any perverse intentions. “Shall we enjoy a book burning tonight?”

“That’s going a little too far. How about we just trash it?” Kisami chuckled before holding out his hand to her. “Thanks.”

Kisami let out a hum to acknowledge her gratitude, their hands clamping around each other when she accepted her help. As he pulled her to her feet, he noticed a series of bruises around her wrist area due to the sleeve pulling up a bit and frowned. Noticing this, Nozomi looked down and quickly fixed her sleeve. However, he couldn’t just ignore it. That was the umpteenth bruise that had appeared since he met her.

“What was that?”

“It’s nothing, Kisami. You don’t have to worry.”

“That ‘nothing’ left quite the bruise, Nozomi. What happened? They’re not the first bruises I’ve seen either and you know it.”

“I’m fine. It’s really nothing, alright? Drop it.”

Kisami frowned at her decisive tone. He wasn’t an idiot, though sometimes he wished he was so he could be blissfully unaware. The Arrancar may not know how abuse is defined in to humans, but he was not unfamiliar with the concept of domestic abuse. In Hueco Mundo, it was still a thing that occurred; though, no one did a thing about it because how an alpha treated their mate was their business. It was widely frowned upon to mistreat your submissive, however. Because of that, Kisami could recognize the signs well enough.

“If someone is hurting you, Nozomi, you can—”

“Kisami, I’m begging you to just….I’m fine. Please, drop it.”

He shouldn’t. Kisami _knew_ he shouldn’t let it go. He wanted to keep pressing her for some kind of confirmation, but he couldn’t risk having her shut him out. He would be heartbroken to lose her companionship. Closing his eyes, Kisami forced himself to nod before feeling her take his hand.

“You will be careful, yes?”

“I’m always careful.” Kisami couldn’t help but let out a snort, earning a light smack to his chest. “What?”

“We wouldn’t have met if you were always careful. In case you’ve forgotten, you were the one that provoked the Hollow I saved you from.”

“You expected me to sit back and let it eat that child? I was there, so I did what I could.”

“You were incredibly foolish for challenging a creature you could not effectively battle. You’re fortunate that I was in the area and was feeling rather generous.”

“Oh, is that what it was? Well, thank you very much for your generosity.”

Kisami smiled a bit and walked alongside Nozomi as they left the park together. The human girl tossed the book into a trash bin as they passed it and Kisami couldn’t help but feel calling the series trash was an insult to trash. As they headed for Nozomi’s neighborhood, the girl looked up at him and he raised a brow at her curious expression.

“Yes?”

“Tell me about your kind. You said you were like the Hollow you killed when we met, but I’ve seen a lot of those creatures and none of them looked remotely human.” Kisami hesitated and Nozomi frowned a bit. “You can’t tell me?”

“It’s not that I can’t. I simply don’t want to cause trouble for my family. We are…not supposed to be here.”

“You have a family?”

“Yes. I have a mother, a father, and four siblings; two brothers and two sisters to be specific. My siblings and I are quintuplets.”

“You’re kidding me. There are four more Kisami Jaeger-Perezes walking around?”

“We are not identical. In fact, sometimes I wonder if I am truly related to them. I have very little resemblance to them. I believe my only connection to my relation to them would be the color of my eyes….My youngest sister has purple eyes as well.”

“…I would like to meet your family sometime.”

“I warn you that they are not like me. My family is rather obnoxious. Then there is our landlord and his makeshift family to be wary of. You would not enjoy it; they do not know the meaning of silence.”

“That’s okay. I still want to meet them. Not right away, of course, but sometime. Maybe over dinner….Does your kind eat?”

“We do not require it, no, but my family has grown rather fond of the human lifestyle. Back to what you were asking before, is there anything you want to know about my kind?”

Kisami continued to walk with Nozomi, answering her questions about the Arrancar and what his family was doing in the human world. He found himself explaining what a gigai was and telling her about the bracelet he was usually always fiddling with as well. He knew that if she had not been seeing spirits, Hollows, and Shinigami from a young age, she would not believe a word he was saying. But, she was used to bizarre things and Nozomi absorbed the information similar to how a sponge absorbed water. Before they knew it, they were standing at the end of her street.

“What did you mean when you said you and your family aren’t supposed to be here?”

“…We are enemies to the Shinigami. If they were to discover us, we would either be slaughtered or forced to flee back to our realm.” Despite how his father and Nelliel helped in the war, very few Shinigami trusted them. It was blood-boiling, but it was how things were. “Nozomi, if you would rather not go home, I would not be against the idea of—”

“I appreciate that you care enough to worry, Kisami, but I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me. Thank you for telling me more about the Arrancar and your family. I’ll see you tomorrow night?”

“Of course. I will bring a book we can read with joy.”

Kisami watched as Nozomi turned and headed down the street, but he didn’t stay to see where she lived. It was one of her rules. If he wanted to walk her home, he was to leave before he saw her house. Kisami imagined it was to prevent him from acting on the urge to discover the origin of the bruises he saw, but that wasn’t going to stop him. He could feel her location simply because of her spirit energy. But, he respected her privacy. For now, he would trust her; however, he was not one to let things go.

It was because of his protective nature that he knew there was still one more thing he had to do before returning home. Or, rather, two somethings.


End file.
